Review Summary: If you like Taproot, get this. If you don't like nu-metal, this shows a sign that they are moving away from the genre into something different. These guys can show a sign that they are willing to improve no matter what it takes.
Taproot is a nu-metal band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, formed in 1997. They have had previous hits, with songs such as “Again and Again”, “Poem”, “Time”, and now on this CD, their hit is entitled “Calling”. As mentioned before in another review, people do not like this band. I like them, but maybe it is just because I like nu-metal in general. There is nothing wrong with that. What is different about this CD and many nu-metal CD out there, is how well these guys can mix all of the elements of the genre and pull it off.
Taproot is:
Steve Richards - vocals
Mike DeWolf - guitar
Phil Lipscomb - bass
Jarrod Montague - drums
Blue-Sky Research was released in the fall of 2005 and features three singles, including
Birthday,
Facepeeler, and
Calling. While these are good and catchy songs, there are some songs on the CD that make you wonder, "Why didn’t they put this as the lead single, it is so good." I will go over those. There are also some songs that make you wonder, and say "What the **** were they thinking when they wrote that." This is a CD full of mixed emotions and it gets mixed expressions from every listener. Personally, I think it is better than their last album, Welcome, but not as catchy as Gift, their first album. The musical instruments used in this CD are really well done, and while the lyrics aren't very clever, the instrumental parts make up for it.
Catchiness is a sign that this album doesn't have to be brilliantly thought up, or the whole album doesn’t have to be spectacular, but if you can get a song or two stuck in someone’s head, you are doing something right. This is the case with this CD. Songs like
Facepeeler and
Forever Endeavor are very catchy and have some really eerie guitar lines. Forever Endeavor is more of a mainstream song that many would love to hear though. I love Forever Endeavor because the message gets its point across. It may be about a wife or girlfiend who will betray you, but he is saying that only time will tell, and that will tell the person if they will be together. I also like how they added more harmonics to their music this times. As not apparent in Gift, and showing little signs in Welcome, the harmonics to me make a difference in a song. Well done.
There are two, and maybe one more, brilliant songs on the album. When I say brilliant, I mean brilliant. These two songs are
Violent Seas and
So Eager, with So Eager being my favorite on the CD. Violent Seas will bring you a catchiness to it, which is always a good thing. Steven seems to have changed his style of singing. It is a little different, and you can tell that he is putting more emotion in his songs, and not trying to sound as if he was singing through his nose, as he did in their last CD, Welcome. So Eager, is a song that to me, can show that these guys can play the low A on the guitar. They did this on their album Gift, but all the guitars were detuned or something, but it still was pretty good. If you like a low tuned, fast paced song, this is that song on the album.
April Suits is also a very good song, as it is technically brilliant, and could be a good choice for another single on the CD, if they choose one. Nothing spectacular about the guitars or anything, it is just how well it was thrown together. There is very good singing in that song.
Then, there are the song where you wonder why they even decided to do that.
She is a good example.
Promise is another, because it is just boring and generic, like most of their Welcome CD.
For the closing two songs of the album,
Nightmare and
Blue-Sky Research, this band shows like it is making a progression further from the nu-metal genre and going to more straight alternative rock.
Nightmare being the song showing more progressive traits. The guitar parts are haunting and deceptive, a different approach from the other songs on the album (ex. diminishing the chord). A great song.
I give this a 4/5, saying that the bad ones are noticeable, but the brilliant ones are brilliant and are a must have for this CD. I would buy the CD alone if it had those three songs on it, for a price of a CD that would only have three songs in it, if you know what I mean.
Recommended Songs
Violent Seas
Birthday
Forever Endeavor
April Suits
So Eager
Nightmare
